Demons, Food and Allergies

When I was preggers with my first child, I cast my inner eye upon my heart and talked to God about all my hopes and worries.  I prayed for a healthy child who would embrace life with a curious mind and a loving heart.  But, I did not realize that I should also pray for a child who is free from eczema, asthma and allergies, especially food allergies.  If I were more aware of how prevalent food allergies have become in our country (and better yet, if I knew my darling child would not be able to share one of my favorites – king crab with legumes), I probably would have talked to God sooner, prayed harder to keep the food allergies demon at bay.  I can hear the prayer now:  “Dear God:  So, I am seeing more and more kids with food allergies.  I am scared that I would not know what to do, how to feed a child with food allergies.  I love food!  I love the freedom that comes with choosing my foods and the sense of control I feel knowing that I can eat whatever I want.  Please bless this child with the same freedom!”

Nine months afters after my son was born, our pediatrician called to tell us that the RAST test results were off the charts – in the thousands.  The alarm in her voice frightened me.  My husband and I went from loving the experience of enjoying food to dreading it.  Our little man is allergic to: wheat, soy, eggs, all seafood, tree nuts, kidney beans, peas (and some others).

My husband and I thought: “There goes bringing him to dim sum on Saturdays!  There goes traveling abroad as a family! There goes baguettes and French pastries! There goes peanut butter and jelly! There goes sushi!!!”  I’ll be honest, we focused on everything he wouldn’t be able to eat, so much so that we pumped his little body with milk, vitamins, white rice and veggies.

As a result, his early food experience was bland.   It wasn’t until one day we went to my parents’ house to pick up our little man and we saw him standing on a chair at the kitchen table helping his grandma prepare a Haitian meal that things changed.  At that moment, we realized two things:  just because he has food allergies doesn’t mean he can’t share the same love of cooking and food.  Second, he may have no control over his food allergies, but he can develop a sense of control over what he eats.  Control starts with knowing your allergies and so, that is where we began.  So we went to work. We taught him all about his allergies and we taught him early. By age two, he could list his allergies as a foodie could recite a recipe.

So here is our lessons learned:

(1) Teach your child what he/she is allergic too! Not just “I’m allergic!” or “I have celiac disease!” But more of “I’m allergic to [list the food]!”;

(2) Teach your child about the importance of reading the ingredients.  He/she may not be able to read, but he/she can tell his care provider “I’m allergic to [list the foods].  I don’t know if I can eat the cake.  What are the ingredients?”;

(3) Help your child understand how his/her body reacts when he/she eats an allergic food; and

(4) Help your child accept his/her differences by starting the conversation and setting the habits at home.  Every time we cook, we talk about the ingredients!  We also don’t always limit our menu because of his allergies (it’ helps him get comfortable with being around diners that are eating foods he can’t).

I look forward to sharing my family’s stories and experiences with food with you.  ‘Til next time!

Tags: culture, food, food allergies, health-childrens-health, health-diet-nutrition, health-recipes, preschool, toddler

Category: Featured Articles: Health & Nutrition, Health & Nutrition, Kids & Food